Briefly: Renovations at BC Place Stadium for hosting the FIFA 26 World Cup include refurbishing the 2011-installed, centre-hung videoboard. The Crown corporation that runs the stadium awarded $3.4 million in contracts to two companies.
The new videoboard will be higher definition, but not smaller. BC Lions’ punter Stefan Flintoft has struck it twice this season.
Bob Mackin
When BC Place Stadium gets a new scoreboard, as part of renovations before the FIFA 26 World Cup, it will remain an obstacle for BC Lion Stefan Flintoft.
The centre-hung videoboard at BC Place, to be replaced in early 2025 (Mackin)
Flintoft punts have struck the centre-hung, high definition videoboard twice this season — Aug. 18 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Sept. 13 against the Toronto Argonauts — eliciting humorous reactions from Canadian Football League referee Ben Major.
Rather than replace it with a smaller box or instal a halo-style system (like the one in Los Angeles’s SoFi Stadium), new, higher definition screens will be applied.
“As the centre-hung videoboard is at the end of its life, PavCo is currently pursuing a display replacement, electrical adjustment, and additional input connections, while the internal infrastructure/physical support system is intended to remain the same in order to manage costs,” said Jenny McKenzie, the stadium’s senior manager of marketing and communications.
At the end of August, B.C. Pavilion Corp. (PavCo) published a notice of direct award to ANC Sports Enterprise LLC (ASE) and Vidcom Communications. The new board will “offer improved graphics, reduced weight and lower power consumption,” said the notice of intention.
ASE’s scope of work includes design, supply, transportation and installation of the LED board, as well as training and recycling the old equipment. Vidcom, meanwhile, will upgrade the graphic control system.
Work is expected to take five weeks before February 2025— one week for the 10-person crew to demolish the old screens and four weeks to install the four new ones.
The total cost, before taxes, is $3.405 million.
PavCo said it chose the companies because ASE is the only authorized reseller of Lighthouse LED panels in North America and Vidcom is the authorized Canadian reseller of Chyron Hego, the hardware and software to manage video, audio and data.
Competing suppliers had a Sept. 6 deadline to file a challenge.
In May, PavCo chose Etro Construction of Surrey to manage the pre-World Cup renovations. When it published the request for proposals last December, PavCo wanted to begin the three-year contract as soon as February.
PavCo also contracted RJS Construction Ltd. of Surrey on Jan. 24 for storage and office space construction on a $1.095 million contract and BLT LP on Jan. 6 for almost $630,000 to renovate the broadcast facilities.
PavCo faces a June 30, 2025 FIFA deadline to complete all renovation or construction work. NDP tourism and sport minister Lana Popham said on April 30 that stadium renovations and tournament operations would cost taxpayers $149 million to $196 million. Works also include the installation of a natural grass pitch, upgrades to team dressing rooms and public washrooms, new, larger elevators and improved wifi.
FIFA allotted Vancouver seven matches between June 13 and July 7, 2026. Two of them will feature the Canadian national team. Toronto and Seattle are scheduled to host six each.
The total cost of hosting FIFA 26 has skyrocketed to between $483 million and $581 million — or $69 million to $83 million per match day. Popham blamed inflation and FIFA’s requirements, including the expansion of the 48-nation tournament in Canada, Mexico and U.S. from 80 to 104 matches.
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